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The Obama administration is proposing in its revamp of No Child Left Behind that new standards ensure students are ready for college or a career and allow states to use subjects other than reading and mathematics to gauge school progress. Critics point out that testing is still a major focus of Obama's proposal. "In essence, the NCLB template has been modified but is still in place," said Diane Ravitch, an education historian and researcher.

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The Obama administration is proposing in its revamp of No Child Left Behind that new standards ensure students are ready for college or a career and allow states to use subjects other than reading and mathematics to gauge school progress. Critics point out that testing is still a major focus of Obama's proposal. "In essence, the NCLB template has been modified but is still in place," said Diane Ravitch, an education historian and researcher.

In this blog post, Lisa Guisbond and Monty Neill of the nonprofit National Center for Fair and Open Testing are critical of the continued emphasis on standardized testing that is part of the Obama administration's blueprint for revising No Child Left Behind. They argue that the new law should require testing in select grades and allow educators to refocus their efforts on teaching rather than test preparation.

As the Obama administration begins to push its newly released education-reform plan, the policies are meeting resistance from two key education unions. The National Education Association says the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, meant to revise the No Child Left Behind law, still overemphasizes standardized tests, and the American Federation of Teachers argues that it places an unfair burden on teachers in turning around struggling schools. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is expected to appear at congressional hearings on the topic today.

Seven years after No Child Behind, little evidence indicates it has improved student achievement or closed the racial gap, said former Assistant U.S. Education Secretary Diane Ravitch, who now is a research professor of education. Rather than simply tweaking the law, the Obama administration should kill NCLB, she says.

Preliminary data from the U.S. Education Department reveals at least 24,470 schools nationwide, or 27%, did not make "adequate yearly progress" in 2004-05, up one point from the previous year. While the Bush administration insists schools are improving under NCLB, some critics say progress statistics are meaningless, because states have control over both their tests and the formulas they use to calculate AYP.